Seven

Allison

It’s not even the big opening day game and I’m a nervous wreck. I had to make sure I put on my bra, then I forgot my phone five times. I walk down the hall, trying to shake out the nerves, and run smack into him. Him. There is no need to say his name because we aren’t talking about him. Him who is the bane of my existence. Him who I go out of my way to avoid. Him who fucks with me even in my dreams. HIM. I smack into his chest, his hard chest. My hands go up and I feel his heart under my hands.

“Sorry,” I mutter, looking up only for him to just say yeah and walk around me. See, asshole. That is why we aren’t talking about him.

Now here we are five minutes before they skate on the ice, almost three hours before we can start loading the bus. My first time going away. I have about a million Post-it notes all lined up in my office. I stand here almost in the corner, watching the guys get up and start to walk out to the ice. If I thought they were big before it’s nothing like when they are on skates. Matthew walks in front of Phil, who is in front of him. He motions for me to come to him, so I do.

“Squirt, remember that time in peewee when I used to put my glove in your face for good luck?”

“Matthew, I will fucking put Nair in your shampoo if you put that nasty glove in my face,” I threaten him while I look up at him and Phil just pushes him ahead.

“Don’t worry, squirt, I’ll look out for you.” He smiles at me.

“Are we not playing a fucking game?” Max walks past us.

“Ignore him, he gets pissy on game day.”

“Well, what excuses does he have for every other day?” I ask under my breath.

Phil laughs out loud. “Fuck if I know.”

Fans erupt in cheers, so I know the guys are on the ice. I go to my office, making sure all my things are in order for when we check in. No one has crazy demands, but then again the big guns aren’t going.

I make my way up to the team lodge, showing them my badge, and then walking in.

“Auntie Allie.” My niece Franny runs to me, jumping into my arms, and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You so pretty.” She leans closer. “Did you bring lip-gloss?”

I kiss her cheeks. “No, but how about you come to my office after and make me a picture I can put up?”

She nods.

“Where is my little Vivi?” I ask, looking around for my little niece.

“She stayed home because it’s too loud,” she says and wiggles herself to go down and join her brother Cooper.

“Hey there, my little man, where is the love for your aunt?” I say, bending to hug him. “Did you guys go downstairs and see them skate?”

They both shake their heads. I look over to see my sister-in-law Karrie talking to her father.

“Hey, I’m going to bring the kids down to see Matthew,” I say and she nods.

We walk down the hallway, both of them holding my hands, and we go down the stairs to the glass around the boards. Cooper stands near the glass, slapping it when he sees a couple of players he knows and they smirk at him. I lift Franny up and hold her on my hip as I point at Matthew.

“There is Daddy,” I say and she yells Dada, but just then Max skates in front of her.

Cooper slaps the glass, yelling Max’s name. He looks at Cooper, gives him a high five on the glass, and then looks over at Franny, who hides in my neck. He winks at her and shakes his fingers, telling her hello. She smiles at him, and I smile at her. My eyes meet his for the first time in two weeks. It’s for a split second, a blink of an eye, but it’s enough for my stomach to fall. I don’t have time to think about anything because Matthew finally comes to the side of the glass where he leans down and points at Cooper and then blows kisses to Franny, the press capturing everything. Both of them are wearing Grant jerseys, so there is no mistaking that these are his, and well, they look exactly like him. Poor kids. The buzzer sounds, telling us that the Zamboni is going to come on, so we make our way back to the lodge where they tell their mother about seeing their daddy.

I take my spot beside Karrie, who has Franny on her lap as Cooper sits with Doug. No doubt telling his grandfather all about his hockey moves.

“So you ready for the travel?” she asks me and I look away from the ice. “No, not even fucking close.”

“That’s a bad word,” Franny says.

“Oops.” I put my hands to my lips. “No, I’m not. I have seven backup plans in case the first six mess up. Seven.”

“It’ll be fine. As long as they have a bed to sleep in, they don’t care.” She holds a bag of chips in her hand and Franny eats them one at a time. “I got the memo for opening day. You are going all out there this year. I heard you’re trying to get Jay Z to come and sing.”

I smile. “Well, he did say he bleeds blue, no?” I look over at the bench, seeing the players that aren’t starting take their seat. The five starting players get ready. Matthew is center with Phil on one side and Max on the other. They each skate in a circle around their position. The two star defensemen Jamie and Peter are starting also with Luka between the pipes. Toronto looks ready to rumble and Matthew takes his place as the referee is getting ready to drop the puck and then the music dies and the puck hits the ice.

He wins the faceoff right away, knocking it to Phil, who tries to skate around the forward in front of him, but he loses the puck with a poke check. The young Toronto center man jumps over Matthew’s stick to intercept the pass, but Max is one step ahead of him, blocking him from even skating forward. Rookie doesn’t see Max and literally bounces off him. The whistle blows and the fans are on their feet while Matthew starts arguing with the ref when he wants to call Max for a penalty, but he doesn’t do anything because the linesman comes in and explains what happened.

The change shifts and Dan puts on two other people but keeps Max on there. I see Max talk to the rookies that he is playing with. He says something and they all agree and then the next second he loses the face-off, but then Deegan blocks it at the defense line, passing it straight to Max’s blade. It lands with a tock you hear echoed through the building. He looks like he’s running on the ice, but he’s just that fast. He ducks away from the defenseman, going right when he thought he would go left and then just slaps it in from the blue line. Perfectly aligned to land over the goalie’s shoulder and bouncing in the net. The fans get on their feet. Max points at the two rookies while they skate to him and celebrate. They all skate to the bench, high-fiving everyone while we stand on our feet and cheer. The rest of the game is the same. Nothing could stop us and we end up winning five to zero, giving Luka his first shout-out.

When the game finishes, Doug helps Karrie carry the kids to the car with promises to meet for lunch as soon as I’m back. I go downstairs, grabbing my two bags, and lugging them to the bus. I’m waiting for the guys to start loading the bus as I update Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I look through the photos taken tonight, finding a couple of Max and posting this with his hashtag #MadMax13.

It takes them about an hour to get in the bus. I sit here in the front with my computer on my lap, putting all the pictures on a USB for a later date. I check my watch and see that it is almost eleven-thirty by the time the coach and Max get into the bus. His hair is still wet, but perfectly groomed. The smell of his aftershave lingers to me. He sits across from me next to the coach, puts his earphones in, and watches something on his phone. I close my computer, storing everything for when we arrive at the airport some fifteen minutes later. I get up as soon as the bus stops, or at least I think the bus is stopping only to jerk forward one more time as I stand in the aisle. I’m ready to go crashing through the window, but two hands hold on to my hips, stopping me from moving. I look down to see his fingers while my heart hammers in my chest.

“Maybe you should wait till the door is open before you get up,” he says and I just nod, grabbing my bag, and walking off the bus on shaky fucking legs, but the feel of his fingertips are still lingering on me.

Grabbing my bag, I walk to the plane and sit in the first row. I put my bag next to me and fasten my seat belt. The whole team gets on and we are off the ground in fifteen minutes. My eyes burn by the time we get to the hotel lobby and are greeted by the manager on site. Everyone gets their rooms and I wait for everyone to go upstairs before I pick up my bag, signing everything at the front desk, and going to the elevator. The elevator pings and I get ready to go in, but I stop when I see Max coming outside.

“Sorry.” He walks past me and I watch him head out of the hotel.

I stand here wondering where the hell he is going when the doors almost squash me as I get into the elevator, press the button for my floor, and then an arm is pushed inside, stopping the doors from closing. Max steps back inside, a brown paper bag in his hand now.

I press six and he doesn’t press anything. Great. “Good game tonight.” I try to make conversation while he stares ahead. “Or not,” I say to myself.

The elevator door opens and I walk out, looking at the signs as he walks around me, heading down the right side. I pray to God I don’t have to follow him, but God isn’t listening tonight because I follow him, stopping in front of my door. I take the card out and tap it in front of the door. It turns the light green, but I don’t make it inside before Max’s door shuts, echoing in the hall.

“Good night to you, too, asshole.”